Osteoporosis-Linked Fractures Rise Dramatically

By EGP News Service

The hospitalization rate of patients admitted for the treatment of hip, pelvis and other fractures associated with osteoporosis increased by 55 percent between 1995 and 2006, according to the latest News and Numbers by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

An estimated 10 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis, a disease causing bones to become brittle and weak. Fractures associated with osteoporosis can be slow to heal, and can cause debilitating pain, disability, deformities, and occasionally death.

The Federal agency’s study also found that fractures associated with osteoporosis:

—Accounted for one-fourth of the roughly 1 million hospitalizations in 2006 of patients with osteoporosis.
—Cost hospitals $2.4 billion in 2006.
—Caused women to be 6 times more likely to be hospitalized than men.
—Involved mostly older patients: 90 percent of hospitalizations were for age 65 and older and 37 percent for patients age 85 and older.
—Were highest in the Midwest (107 per 100,000 people) and lowest in the West (68 per 100,000 people).

This AHRQ News and Numbers is based on data in U.S. Hospitalizations Involving Osteoporosis and Injury, 2006.

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